NCAA Women's Basketball 2013: Previewing This Weekend's Best Action

On the men's side, conferences such as the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley are finally beginning tournament play, signaling that the Madness has officially begun.

And if you're more interested in the major conferences, there's no need to worry. Most of women's college basketball wrapped up its regular season this past week, and conference tournaments are in full swing, making this weekend one of the most must-see of the year.

Let's take a look at what to watch for.

Friday, March 8

Big 12 First Round

It's not exactly the cream of the crop of the Big 12, but it's the beginning of what will arguably be the most anticipated conference tourney of the season.

On Friday, Kansas State kicks things off against Texas at 7 p.m. ET, followed directly by Kansas and TCU. You can catch the action on the Big 12 Network.

Green Bay vs. Loyola (IL)

On the surface, this might not be such an intriguing matchup.

But the No. 20 Phoenix are one of the best teams in the nation and looking to get through the Horizon League undefeated. Standing in their way, however, is Loyola, which is 9-5 in the conference and took Green Bay to the wire last month after leading at halftime.

It gets started at 8 p.m. ET.

Saturday, March 9

Brittney Griner

What will Griner, the most dominant player in all of college basketball, do for an encore to her 50-point performance earlier this week?

In the second round of the Big 12 tournament, there's a chance her Baylor squad will meet up with Kansas State, the same team she just embarrassed.

You can catch the expected carnage at 1:30 p.m. ET, if you're into that sort of thing.

ACC Semis

Assuming the favorites make it past the quarters on Friday, we've got a dream Final Four in the ACC tournament.

On the top half of the bracket, No. 23 and offensive powerhouse Florida State will take on No. 5 Duke and Elizabeth Williams.

On the bottom, you'll likely get to see No. 10 Maryland battling No. 15 North Carolina in a highly-anticipated rubber match.

The action will get started at 1 p.m. ET. The championship, which will also be a must-watch matchup, takes place on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

Sunday, March 10

SEC Finals

The SEC doesn't receive as much hype as some of the other major conferences, but if the favorites make it through to the final, we will be treated to a battle of the titans between No. 7 Kentucky and No. 9 Tennessee.

The Lady Wildcats won the only matchup less than a week ago, but a rematch would be ideal.

You can find this one on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. ET.

Pac-12 Finals

Once again, assuming the favorites win on Friday and Saturday, you're going to have yourself a busy day of watching basketball.

No. 4 Stanford. No. 5 California. Just four losses combined between the two. Stanford beat Cal by nine at Cal. The Golden Bears got revenge by 12 in Palo Alto.

Matchup No. 3? Yes, please.

Check in to ESPN2 after the SEC final to catch this one.

Big East Quarters

Don't think we've forgotten about the Big East, arguably the best conference in America.

The teams to pay attention to in the quarters will obviously be Notre Dame (2 p.m. ET) and UConn (6 p.m. ET), two legitimate contenders for the national championship.

But in a full day of action, No. 13 Louisville (noon ET) and No. 24 Syracuse (8:30 p.m. ET) will also be in action.